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Dr. Bret Williams and his family |
Dr.
Bret Williams, a 52 year‑old internal medicine doctor, lives in
Hillsborough, North Carolina with his wife Julie and their three children:
Christopher, age 25; Brian, age 17; and Kaitlin, age 15.
His
troubles began in August of 2002, when Dr. Williams began to experience
right‑sided chest pain. A CT scan revealed the presence of fluid in the
right chest cavity. In ensuing months his symptoms resolved, then
recurred periodically. He underwent thoracentesis, removal of chest fluid
for analysis, but no diagnosis resulted. On March 13, 2003, Dr. Williams
underwent a video‑assisted thoracoscopy with pleural biopsy at the
University of North Carolina. On April 1, 2003, pathologists reported
malignant mesothelioma, a tumor caused by asbestos exposure.
Dr.
Williams sought out the best available care. After discovering very few
treatment options, he decided to undergo extra‑pleural pneumonectomy (EPP),
a radical amputation of the lung, the chest lining, and parts of the
diaphragm and pericardium. He flew to New York City for this extensive
surgery on May 8, 2003 under the care of Dr. Valerie Rusch, a well known
thoracic surgeon. Dr. Williams experienced multiple complications after
his operation. After returning home, he developed bleeding around his
heart, requiring transport via life flight helicopter to Duke University
Medical Center on May 28 for emergency surgery. He was then in intensive
care for weeks, where medical staff had difficulty treating his irregular
heart rate and weaning him off the respirator.
Although post‑surgical complications brought Dr. Williams close to death,
he nevertheless insisted on receiving six weeks of adjuvant radiation
therapy, which made him very sick and weak. Dr. Williams was too ill to
travel back to New York City for follow‑up treatment at Sloan Kettering
and instead received radiation at Duke. He was hospitalized twice during
his treatments for dehydration, low blood pressure, and refractory atrial
fibrillation.
Before
his illness, Dr. Williams commuted daily to a small clinic in rural North
Carolina, an area chronically short of medical care. He has served in a
number of similar settings in the past, providing free or low cost health
care to the poor. In 1996 Dr. Williams took his family to Bolivia, where
he volunteered to help treat native populations in the Andes Mountains.
He then opened a clinic on Daufuskie, an isolated sea island near Hilton
Head, South Carolina, where his patients included descendants of slaves
who speak Gullah, a distinctive language with African roots.
Because
Dr. Williams has always put people over profit, mesothelioma could ruin
his family financially. Still, true to form, in voicing his personal
opposition to SB 1125, he asks the Senate to remember those less
fortunate:
I
am not a rich doctor. I have devoted my life to caring for underserved
populations. I have done health care research emphasizing unmet needs
in this country, worked in government clinics for the poor, directed
a privately-funded free clinic, and volunteered to provide much needed
care in the developing world. I ask for your consideration not only
because I myself am an injured party – though I certainly am – but also
for the many less fortunate than I, people without money, connections,
medical skills, and knowledge. These victims can't hire lobbyists to
influence your vote, but they vitally need your help.
The
case against companies which poisoned Dr. Williams was filed in January,
2004 and does not yet have a trial date. Dr. Williams was exposed to
asbestos during his childhood in Kansas, while working summer jobs, and
while repairing his home.
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Dr. Bret Williams when his children were
younger |
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Medical Doctor with Mesothelioma:
"Asbestos Fibers Do Not Respect the Color of your Collar." Dr. Williams
speaking
in favor of banning asbestos and funding medical research for a cure.
"Sadly," he said, "the asbestos bill
before Congress (SB 1125) would save industry many millions of
dollars, but would not divert any of that windfall to research or
prevention." March 24, 2004, Washington D.C. |
***
POSTED MARCH 19, 2004 ***
An Update --
6/17/04
From Dr.
Williams:
Someone recently wrote about
pain control; her dad was having difficulty with narcotics wearing
off too quickly. There are a couple of tricks well known to pain
specialists, including 1) adding a phenothiazine
(major tranquilizer) to potentiate the narcotic (such as compazine or
thorazine, both also helpful for nausea); 2)
adding an antidepressant, which may have an effect on pain
threshhold independent of its effect on mood (sometimes people will
take an antidepressant for pain control when they
will refuse it for depression); 3) using antiepileptic drugs such as
Neurontin, Trileptal, or Topamax (this seems to work for so-called "neuropathic"
pain, often burning in character, that frequently
contributes to prolonged post-surgical discomfort after
EPP); and/or going to science-fictionoid interventions like the
intrathecal pump another correspondent described.
Any oncologist will be familiar with the range of options
available, and most larger hospitals or medical
centers also have pain clinics that can be extremely helpful.
Even when cure is not possible, suffering can and should be
minimized.
For cough -- a problem that I
have had great difficulty with as well -- it may depend on where the
problem is. Tessalon perles help irritation in the lung itself;
benzonatate is actually a local anesthetic that is
excreted by the lungs, so it does a great job of controlling cough due to
small airway irritation. When the cough is caused
by large airway or throat irritation (as mine is), better relief can usually be obtained through narcotics or various lozenges,
including the licorice drops mentioned recently.
When these standards fail, sometimes bronchodilators like
albuterol help, sometimes antihistimines like Benadryl or Claritin,
and occasionally major tranks like thorazine.
There is a lot of science
involved, but for any individual finding the right treatment is like
trying on shoes; you just go through the options until something
fits.
I seem to have more trouble with
cough after drinking cold liquids or ice cream. I have no idea
why; anyone else have this problem?
I'm seeing patients four days
per week now, very busy this week because my nurse practitioner is
out after surgery for endometriosis. Feeling pretty good, but tired
by the end of the day. Next CT scan in July,
fingers crossed as usual but not thinking about it much at present. I'm
getting vibes that the kids have surprises for
Father's Day this year, certainly a brighter day than the
last one!
Best to all
Dr. Williams:
Asbestos companies, bankruptcy trusts, patients and trial
lawyers should invest in medical research
Dr. Bret Williams is a 52 year old
cardiologist in North Carolina who had an EPP in May of 2003. Dr. Williams
is a strong advocate. He was recognized by Senator Murray for his
outstanding public service in speaking out in favor of banning asbestos and
funding asbestos cancer medical research. ATLA
invited him earlier this year to speak to members of the senate's democratic
caucus.
MARF is conducting an
informal survey of asbestos victims and
their relatives in order to learn their priorities when it comes to
allocating chapter 11 asbestos debtor settlement trusts. MARF
believes the debtor trustees need to discharge their duty of care and
loyalty to asbestos victims by helping fund research designed to extend the
survival of existing claimants and prevent a death sentence for future
claimants.
Dr. Williams is a smart, compassionate, and
dedicated public servant. His opinions regarding how each of us can help
solve a public health crisis are entitled, in my view, to great weight.
RGW
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From Dr. Williams, dated 9/9/04:
"To clarify my response: I really see
adequate funding to be in the range of 10 - 20 M annually at
first, increasing up to 2 to 3 times that amount over time. I'm
having a little difficulty with the amount of
money that changes hands per year. If we assume that 10-20 billion simoleons
will be paid out each year, then about 1/2 % of disbursements should do it.
I would be willing to split this with the trial
attorneys. Practically, I don't think it likely that we'll garner any
further contributions from industry, so the last question is no not
because I don't think they deserve to pay but
because I don't think it pragmatic to expect.
Furthermore, I am disappointed at the low
rate of contributions by trial lawyers. I am more than
happy to pay a share, but I think it fitting and proper that they
should donate in the same percentage that they
profit. I'm sure their stress levels are high, but we victims do the
overwhelming majority of the suffering.
Best,
~Bret Williams"
An Update --
9/20/04
Subject:
MARF symposium
I'm not going to
Vegas next month. Not clear if Julie will be recovered from her disk surgery
(tomorrow morning at 8:30!), two kids on fall break, etc etc There will be
some good science presented there, and it’s exciting that research seems to
be gaining momentum. The most interesting part for me, of course, would be
meeting those of you who are going.
To repeat the basic information, the
conference is titled "First International Symposium on Malignant
Mesothelioma". It’s really not terribly international, but there is one
presenter from Australia. Some very good doctors and researchers will be
present, including a few whose names are often mentioned on this site:
Harvey Pass, Hedy Kindler, David Sugarbaker, Robert Taub, Robert Cameron,
Nicholas Vogelzang, etc.
The program on Thursday, October 14 is less
research-oriented than the next two days and includes sessions on care-giving,
advocacy, grieving, and pain management. This day seems largely aimed at
victims and families.
MARF (Mesothelioma
Applied Research Foundation), the sponsoring organization, is a group
financed largely by funds from a couple of guilty corporations and one legal
firm. MARF’s leadership is hard at work trying to increase contributions
from the legal community.
I think it important that all of us who have
counsel encourage them to help fund research. Personally, I favor devoting a
percentage of all money that changes hands I mean both funds received by
victims and funds received by legal firms to research in finding a cure.
The two most appalling things about the
asbestos problem are 1) that use of this toxic substance has not been
stopped and 2) that virtually none of the enormous amount of money being
extracted from industry goes toward developing effective treatment. It’s
easy to lose sight of these facts as we deal with our individual pain and
worries.
I look forward to hearing about the meeting
from those who attend. I plan on going to the next one!
Best to all,
~Bret Williams
May 15, 2007:
Dearest Family and Friends of Dr. Bret
Williams,
First of all I want to sincerely apologize if
this email is the first communications you have received regarding this
unfortunate news. Bret passed away on Saturday evening, May 12th. Julie and
the family have made a concerted effort over the past two days to contact as
many people as they could. In the spirit of providing those of you who may
wish to attend his funeral service with as much advance notice as possible,
we decided to send this email. All of you were included in one of Bret's
last self-authored "Update" emails and I am generating this message using
the "Reply-All" function. To those of you who are on the family listserve
please excuse any redundancy.
Click here for a copy of the
obituary, which will be posted in various
newspapers around the country. Also listed are the directions to the church
and information on local motels. I have extracted the following details from
the obituary pertaining to the arrangements:
Dr. Williams' service will be on Friday, May
18th, at 11:00 a.m. at the Cedar Grove United Methodist Church, Efland-Cedar
Grove Road, Cedar Grove, North Carolina. In lieu of flowers, the family
respectfully requests that contributions be made to the Mesothelioma Applied
Research Foundation, (877) 363-6376 or www.marf.org.
Again, I apologize for this forum and wish
that it were possible to deliver this message personally to each and every
one of you who knew and loved Bret during his remarkable life. Over the past
24 years, Uncle Bret has been an invaluable friend, mentor and family member
to me. He will be greatly missed by many.
With deepest sympathy,
Brian Layh
Doctor
Devoted Life to Helping Others
(7/9/07)
-
My Kind of Town, Chicago. Dr. Bret Williams'
first hand account of the Third Annual
International Symposium
on Malignant Mesothelioma,
held in Chicago, Illinois (Oct. 21-22).
(10/25/06)
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PATIENT PROFILES
